There is mystery enough in life without us adding unnecessary
mysteries of our own making. For example, like the woman who
evicted a man from her boarding house, and when she was asked
why she did it she said, "Something mysterious is going on when a
man hangs his hat over the key hole every time he comes in." She
created the mystery for herself by her own snooping. Others create
mysteries even by their attempts to help. Like the professor who
came upon the man setting in his car whose tire was going low. The
professor said, "I say, your tubular air container has lost most of its
rotundity." The motorist blankly replied, "What?" The professor
said, "The cylindrical apparatus which supports your vehicle is no
longer inflated." Again the motorist responded, "I beg your
pardon." The professor was determined to communicate his point,
and he said, "The elastic fabric surrounding the circular frame
whose successive revolutions bear you onward in space has failed to
retain its pristine roundness." As the motorist scratched his head a
little boy walking by shouted out, "Hey mister, you got a flat tire."
In spite of his vast vocabulary and comprehensive description of
the problem, the professor only added mystery upon mystery to
what was the simplest of problems. Truth is worthless as long as it
is hidden in the obscurity of language. One might just as well be
silent as to make sounds, which convey no meaning to the hearer.
What is even worst is if they sounds convey a false meaning, or one
which the speaker does not intend. This was the case with the
Mexican who was just learning to speak English. His friend told
him that a woman is pleased if you tell her how cool she looks. Not
realizing the significance of the words he thought it was the idea that
was important, and so he told his girlfriend she didn't look very hot.
He learned that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing very quickly.
It is dangerous because it assume too much. It over simplifies, and it
does not grasp the implication involved.
All of these illustrations are similar to what can happen in
theology when men like the boardinghouse owner begin to snoop
into what is none of their business, and try to find out what God has
revealed. Or when they like the professor get unreasonably wordy
and complex about the simplest matters. Or when like the Mexican
they convey just the opposite impression than what their intentions
are because of their ignorance of the language. These were the kinds
of problems that Paul faces at Ephesus, and he asked Timothy to
help him with these problems. Some of the Gentile Christians were
taking it upon themselves to become experts on the law. The Jewish
law was, of course, precious to the Gentiles who became Christians,
for it was the Jews who brought the Gospel to them, and it was the
Jewish Scriptures that would be there source of knowing God's will.
Some wanted to spread the word and teach it that others might
know what God has spoken. The problem was that they had zeal
without knowledge, and this leads to more harm than good. These
men were teaching without adequate understanding, and they were
corrupting the purpose of the law. Paul asked Timothy to try and
curb these self-ordained scholars. Their motive was all right, and
Paul does not condemn the desire they had to teach. This was good,
but they just did not have adequate equipment to do the job. They
were not trained and so they didn't understand. Anyone who thinks
that just being a Christian is all that is needed to understand the
Bible understands neither the Bible nor history. Training is just as
essential in Bible knowledge as it is in any other realm of knowledge.
There has never been a great Bible expositor who was not well trained,
either formerly or self-trained, as was the case with D. L. Moody.
No matter how committed and sincere a believer is, God cannot
use him as a teacher if he is ignorant. However sincere a man is in
getting people healed, I do not want him treating me unless he has
some knowledge of the body and medicine. A man has got to have
knowledge and understanding to be used effectively in any area of
life. Ignorance has never qualified a man to teach anything, and
least of all the law of God.
Paul is bothered by these teachers, for their very earnestness
and zeal make them all the more dogmatic in their ignorance. When
a man knows he loves the Lord, and knows his motive is the glory of
the Lord, his ignorance is all the more dangerous, for he assumes
that his love and zeal will guarantee that he speaks the truth.
Unfortunately, this is not the case, and the ignorant tongue can spew
out poison to corrupt the very people he hopes to purify with truth.
Sincerity is no substitute for the facts. If a Christian does not know
what he is talking about he had best be silent. The New English
Bible translates verse 7, "They set out to be teachers of the moral
law, without understanding either the words they use or the subjects
about which they are so dogmatic." If it wasn't so tragic, it would
be funny. Like the Mexican telling his girl she didn't look so hot
without understanding what he was conveying. These Christian
teachers were throwing around words, which they didn't even
understand. Such nonsense is dangerous, for the one doing it can
fall in love with his own concepts, and feel he has cornered the
market on inspiration.
Much that goes on under these delusions is harmless, but Paul
says they detract from the purpose of the church in edifying the
saints and building them up in the truth, which leads to the end of
love. It may not be positive evil, but it is vain jangling says Paul,
and it has no place in the church. There is even a danger of being
aware how easily a subject can be perverted by the ignorance of
men. It can lead you to dismiss or neglect and important part of
God's Word. It every Tom, Dick and Harry starts spouting about
love for every other Tom, Dick and Harry, it can discourage the
Christian who has the highest concepts of love. He can be led to
neglect that which is his own highest goal. He can be so disturbed
by the nonsense and trash that he slips away from the field of Bible
prophecy altogether. It is possible to get such a negative attitude
toward all the perversion that you forget to pursue the truth itself.
Paul wanted to make it clear that he was not doing this. He was
opposed to ignorant teaching of the law, but he was not opposed to
the law. On the contrary, he says in verse 8 that we know the law is
good if a man uses it lawfully. The problem, as Paul sees it, is not
with the law at all, but with man's use of it. If used unwisely that
which is good in itself can become an evil. The law is not just
neutral, but Paul says it is a positive good, but it is conditional. It is
not automatically good, but has to be used properly. A knife is good
for cutting your meat, but bad for cleaning your eyes and ears.
Every good thing can be used in a way that is improper, and then it
become harmful and dangerous, and so it is with the law.
A proper use of law leads to liberty, but on the other side of this
great value are the extremes of legalism and libertinism. Both of
these extremes are the result of a false teaching concerning law, and
both have plagued the church from the beginning. Paul deals with
both extremes in this letter. The law can either add to the Gospel or
detract from it, and so it is very important that the relationship
between the two be understood by Christians. It is a vast subject,
and we can only touch on it.
The basic thing to see here is that the law is good. The Christian
is in no sense in favor of lawlessness, for this is a characteristic of
depraved man at his worst. Paul puts the lawless first in his great
list of evil men beginning in verse 9. The Gospel does not free men
from the burden of law by abolishing it, but by fulfilling it, and by
changing its character from an external force to an internal power.
The church is itself under law, which is the law of her Head and
King, the Lord Jesus, who said that all authority is given to Him,
and so go into all the world and preach the Gospel. The very taking
of the Gospel into the world is obedience to the law of the Lord.
This is His command. He has also laid down the law of what our
goal is to be, and that is to make disciples of all nations.
The difference between this and the Old Testament law is that it
was an external rule threatening punishment, but the law of Christ
is the law of love, which constrains from within and moves us to
obedience, not out of fear of punishment, but out of love and
gratitude. Paul could speak of his being a slave of Christ, and also of
having great liberty in Christ. Both of these are unified in the law of
love written on the heart. Being bound to Christ is being totally free
when one chooses to be so bound. When a man is in love and plans
to get married, no matter how others joke of the bondage and the
chains, and the loss of liberty, he freely chooses it all because the
fulfillment of his love is liberty to him. To be bound in love is the
greatest freedom. So it is when we yield ourselves to be servants of
the law of Christ. We become sons with perfect liberty to do all we
please, for all we please to do is that which pleases Him. Law then
can magnify the liberty of the believer and add to the benefit of the
Gospel.
